


Milk

by rainsoakedshoes



Series: 30 Days of Sterek [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alpha Derek, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Derek is a Good Alpha, Derek is a Softie, Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3158663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What do you mean you found a baby?!” Stiles voice was shrill and tinny through the phone.<br/>Derek moved the phone away from his ear with a wince. “I mean I found a baby. I got home and she was bundled up in blankets in a baby carrier. There’s a note too, asking me to keep her safe.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Milk

**Author's Note:**

> Day 14 - Milk  
> this ended up being more Gen than Sterek focused so i tagged accordingly. i cant believe its taken me this long to write accidental baby acquisition.

“What do you mean you _found_ a baby?!” Stiles voice was shrill and tinny through the phone.

Derek moved the phone away from his ear with a wince. “I mean I found a baby. I got home and she was bundled up in blankets in a baby carrier. There’s a note too, asking me to keep her safe.”

“Why would someone trust you with a baby?” Scott asked and Derek realised he was on speaker.

“She’s a werewolf,” Derek explained. “And I’m an alpha. Her mother’s probably a scared omega who’s in trouble. She probably picked up my scent and decided leaving her baby with an alpha was a better decision than taking the baby into whatever situation she was facing. Which is really worrying.”

“You have to take the baby to the police,” Stiles said.

“I can’t do that!” The baby in Derek’s arms startled at his raised voice and started crying. Derek shushed her and rocked her from side to side. “I can’t do that,” he said more quietly. “The mother could be back any moment.” Derek looked down at the werewolf baby. “I can’t abandon a baby at the police station.”

On the other end of the line both Stiles and Scott sighed. “What do you want us to do?” Scott asked.

“Can you bring some food and diapers over?” Derek asked. “She’s about six months old if I had to guess. I can’t really go out with her. I don’t have a baby seat for the car.”

There was another audible sigh. Derek was pretty sure it was from Stiles.

“Give us half an hour,” Scott said, then the line went dead.

*

Scott and Stiles took forty minutes to get to Derek’s loft. When they walked in Derek was sitting on the couch with a small, pink bundle in his arms.

Derek held a finger to his lips and shushed the other two men. “She’s sleeping.”

Scott and Stiles were holding plastic shopping bags and they dumped them on the coffee table in front of Derek. Scott dug through a pulled out a gallon bottle of milk.

“I’ll put this in the fridge before it gets warm,” Scott said.

With one hand Derek searched through the other bags. “Didn’t you bring her any food?”

“We did.” Scott held up the milk bottle. “Babies drink milk.”

“Are you serious right now?” Derek asked. He tried not to jostle the baby as he looked between Scott and Stiles. “Babies can’t – they can’t drink normal milk. They have to have formula.”

Scott and Stiles looked at each other. “Oh,” the said at the same time.

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. “The two of you are hopeless.” He suddenly looked up and tilted his head. “Someone else is coming.”

“It’s probably Lydia and Allison,” Scott said. “We texted them and told them what was going on. They wanted to come over and see the baby.”

Derek settled the baby back in her carrier and stood up, just in case it wasn’t the girls.

Thankfully it was just Lydia and Allison. The two entered the loft in a whirlwind of shopping bags and questions.

_“Where’s the baby? How did she get here? Do you have any idea where her mom is? Why would someone leave a baby with you?”_

Before Derek could react Lydia had plucked the baby from the carrier, and Allison had shoved shopping bags into his hands.

“What’s all this?” Derek asked.

“We bought a few things for the baby,” Allison explained with a wave. She was cooing at the baby.

“Toys, diapers, formula – both normal and lactose free just in case – clothes,” Lydia listed off as Derek dug through the bags.

“You two are life savers,” Derek said, pulling the tin of formula out of a bag. Lydia arched an eyebrow at him. “These two,” Derek nodded at Stiles and Scott. “Bought cow’s milk for her.”

Lydia and Allison turned to look at Stiles and Scott who were suddenly very interested in the roof of the loft.

“Does she have a name?” Allison asked.

“The note calls her Mia,” Derek told her.

“Mia,” Lydia and Allison both cooed down at the baby.

“Is this a normal thing?” Scott asked. “Werewolves leaving their babies with random Alpha’s?”

“Not in this day and age,” Derek said. He was looking at the little bundle in Lydia’s arms. “Usually there’s a pack member, or at least a trusted friend who can look after a small child. But in pack disputes babies and children are usually off limits. No one wants to be the one to kill a baby.”

“Do you have any idea where her mom is?” Lydia asked.

Derek shook his head. He looked over at Scott. “I was thinking maybe you could go out and see if you can pick up her scent? If she’s in trouble we should find her and help.”

“Sure,” Scott said. “Are you going to come?”

“No.” Derek looked at the baby again. “Mia’s my responsibility. I should be here to look after her.”

“Okay.” Scott headed for the door.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Stiles asked.

“Nah,” Scott shook his head. “No offense dude, but you’re not going to be very helpful tracking someone by scent. I’ll call Isaac and see if he can come help.”

“Okay,” Stiles nodded and watched as Scott left the loft.

Lydia and Allison had sat down on the couch, and Allison was cradling Mia now. Lydia was taking one of the toys she had bought out of the packaging. Derek was watching them with a fond smile.

Stiles walked over and started taking everything out of the shopping bags. He sorted things into piles; the toys and clothes and formula.

Lydia noticed Derek staring at the baby. “You want to hold her again don’t you?” she asked.

Derek cleared his throat and looked away. “She’s my responsibility that’s all.”

Lydia and Allison laughed. “Here,” Allison said, standing up. “You can hold her. Lydia and I will make a bottle for her.”

Derek took Mia from Allison. He held her to his chest, his hand cradling the back of her head. Derek sat down on the couch in Allison’s vacated seat, and Stiles quickly slumped down on the couch as soon as Lydia stood up.

“Do you really think Mia’s mom is in trouble?” Stiles asked.

“She has to be,” Derek said. “There’s no way she’d leave her child with an alpha she didn’t know unless she was really scared for her safety.”

Stiles scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry about the milk,” he said. “I guess we weren’t really thinking. The whole baby showing up on your doorstep thing kinda distracted us.”

“It’s okay,” Derek said.

Mia started to fuss and Derek moved her so she was cradled in his arm and he could look at her face. “Shh,” Derek whispered to her. “Lydia and Allison are making you something to eat. It’s okay.”

“Careful,” Stiles laughed. “Someone might think you’ve done this before.”

“I used to help my mother with Cora when she was a baby,” Derek explained. The baby in his arms looked a little like Cora had at that age. But – in Derek’s opinion – most young babies look similar at that age.

Allison and Lydia had finished preparing the bottle and walked back over to the couch. Lydia handed Derek the bottle and Derek started to feed Mia.

“Look at the big bad alpha and the widdle baby,” Lydia said with a laugh. Allison was taking photos of Derek and Mia with her phone. Stiles was biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.

Derek looked up at the girls, a scowl forming on his face. Lydia rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Derek,” she said. “We’re just teasing. It’s actually nice to see this side of you.”

Allison slipped her phone back into her pocket. “You ready?” she asked Lydia.

Lydia nodded and picked up her purse from the coffee table.

“You’re leaving?” Stiles asked.

“We had plans,” Lydia explained. “Now we’re sure the baby is actually in good hands, we’re going to go to dinner.”

“Thanks for all this stuff,” Derek said as the two girls headed for the door. “I’ll pay you back for it.”

Lydia waved a hand distractedly over her shoulder at him. “I know you will.”

Stiles watched Derek as he turned his attention back to Mia. It was odd seeing Derek like this. He looked warm and soft; gentle. He held Mia so carefully, like he was scared he was going to break her. It was hard for Stiles to believe that this was the same man who could literally rip and enemy to bits if the desire hit him. But Lydia was right: it was nice to see this side of Derek.

Mia finished with her bottle and Derek looked up. He noticed Stiles staring.

“Are you going to tease me too?” Derek asked. At any other time the question would have sounded threatening, but Stiles found it very hard to be intimidated by Derek while he was holding Mia protectively to his chest.

“No,” Stiles said quickly, shaking his head. “No teasing from me. I just didn’t pick you as someone with particularly strong paternal instincts.”

Derek shrugged, careful not to jostle Mia too much. “Do you want to burp her?” Derek asked to change the subject.

“I – I don’t know how.” Stiles shook his head again.

“It’s easy,” Derek said.

Derek held Mia in one hand and grabbed the dish towel Lydia had bought over with the bottle. He put the towel over Stiles’ shoulder, then handed him the baby before Stiles could protest any more. Derek moved Stiles’ hands so he had one under Mia supporting her, and the other on her back.

“Just rub and pat her back gently,” Derek instructed. “You’ll know when she burps.”

Stiles did what he was told, all while looking at Derek with a sceptically raised eyebrow. After a little while Mia hiccupped and Stiles was hit with an unmistakeable smell.

Stiles went rigid. “Did she just throw up on me?!”

Derek knelt up and leaned over so he could see over Stiles’ shoulder. “You can borrow one of my shirts,” he said, biting back a grin.

“Laugh it up, big guy.” Stiles handed Mia back to Derek. “Just wait until Lydia shows the rest of the pack those photos. Erica’s going to have a field day.”

Derek rolled his eyes and put Mia into the baby carrier. “Keep an eye on her while I go find you a clean shirt.”

Stiles looked down at the baby who was smiling up at him. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” he said. Mia waved her little fist at Stiles, and Stiles mimicked her.

“Please don’t tell me you’re getting into a fight with an infant,” Derek said. He handed Stiles a clean t-shirt.

Stiles huffed and pulled his soiled shirt off over his head. “She started it.”

*

It was another hour and a half before Scott and Isaac made it back to the loft.

“Did you have any luck?” Derek asked in a whisper. Mia was sleeping; she was swaddled in one of her blankets and lying on Derek’s bed.

Both of the younger werewolves shook their heads. “We followed her trail for a while – it led out to the other side of town – but then we lost it,” Scott said.

“There were a lot of other scents,” Isaac added. “Other werewolves.”

“Maybe whoever is after her?” Stiles suggested.

“Maybe,” Derek nodded.

“More than likely,” Scott said. “We picked up their scents before we lost hers. It seemed like they were tracking her too.”

“Did you smell the other werewolves near here?” Derek demanded, throwing a worried look over to the still sleeping baby.

“No,” Scott shook his head again. “No strange werewolves have been near the loft except the baby’s mom.”

“What are you going to do?” Isaac asked.

“Keep Mia safe,” Derek said. “Keep trying to find her mom and help with whatever trouble she’s in.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Scott asked.

Derek considered the question for a moment. “Not right now,” he said. “It’s getting late. In the morning we’ll call Deaton to see if he knows anything, and try and pick up her scent again.”

“We’re gonna go home then,” Scott said. Derek nodded.

Scott looked at Stiles expectantly. “Uh, I’m gonna stay for a little while,” Stiles said.

“You sure, man?” Scott asked.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

Scott raised an eyebrow at Stiles, but followed Isaac out of the loft.

“You don’t have to stay,” Derek said.

“I know,” Stiles said. He looked over to the bed where Mia was. “I want to.”

**Author's Note:**

> i cut it short since this is about 1 thousand words longer than i initially planned. But!!! there will be a second part to this!!!  
> in the mean time you can talk to me/vent your frustrations about me leaving you hanging at me on [tumblr](http://heavenlyhale.tumblr.com/)  
> also not gonna lie, it took me ages to write something for this fic bc every time i looked at the prompt word all i could think of was the infamous ryden Milk Fic  
>  **EDIT:** you can find the second instalment [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3185486)


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